Direct Property News

2018 has started relatively well for those taking their first step onto the property ladder. Average mortgage interest rates continue to fall and recently released government statistics have shown that various schemes including HTB are performing well. However, the market remains skewed and still overwhelmingly favours those with at least a 25% deposit. The latest findings from the quarterly AmTrust Mortgage Loan to Value (LTV) Tracker show that those first-timers with only a 5% deposit are still having to pay almost two-thirds more per month in mortgage payments than those with a 25% deposit. This has been a constant over the three years that the Tracker has run. Chancellor Philip Hammond, in last month’s Spring Statement,…

The average price of a home in the UK reached £227,871 in March, a record high, having increased by 1.5% month on month, the latest index data shows. Prices are now 2.7% higher than in March 2017, up from 1.8% annual growth recorded in February. It is the highest recorded price for the index published by lender the Halifax. However, Russell Galley, Halifax managing director, pointed out that while mortgage are at their most affordable for years, activity levels, like house price growth, have softened compared with a year ago. Mortgage approvals are down compared to 12 months ago, whilst home sales have remained flat in the early months of the year. ‘This lack of direction…

Despite the uncertainty of Brexit and increasing tax burdens for landlords, buy-to-let (BTL) investors remain largely optimistic about the prospects for the market in the year ahead. In its annual ‘BTL barometer’, which explores the current and future sentiment of professional landlords, Shawbrook Bank finds two thirds (65%) of BTL investors are confident about the performance of their property portfolio in 2018. Just 14% say they are concerned. Good tenant demand and high yields appear to be driving feelings of optimism amongst this cohort of property investors, with one in five (21%) experiencing an increase in tenant demand in the 12 months to 2018. Although landlords are optimistic, they are also realistic, understanding they will be…

Growth in mortgage lending in the UK is forecast to rise in 2018 for an eighth year in a row to reach its highest level since 2007 and to continue doing so into 2019 despite Brexit uncertainties. However, despite the best performance for a decade, the mortgage market continues to be challenged by a combination of a shortage of properties, very low levels of turnover and obstacles to both first time buyers and second steppers, according to the fifth annual market review from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA). The report suggests that gross mortgage lending will reach £265 billion with net mortgage lending of £47 billion and remortgage activity will continue to be more buoyant…

House price growth in British cities continues to be led by locations in the north with five recording annual rises of over 7%, the latest index shows. Overall prices in key cities have increased by 5.2% in the 12 months to February 2017 but the reverse is happening in London with value up just 1% year on year and negative growth in 42% of the capital’s postcodes. Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham and Manchester lead the growth with annual price rises of 8%, 7.8%, 7.7%, 7.7% and 7.1% respectively with Leeds not far behind at 6.9%, according to the latest index from Hometrack. Overall price growth in the 20 cities covered by the index is still above…

New research from Halifax has revealed that mortgages in the UK have reached their most affordable level in a decade, with typical payments accounting for 29% of disposable income in Q4 2017 compared to 48% Q3 in 2007. According to the research, this means mortgage affordability levels for first-time buyers and homemovers have dropped by 40% since the 2007 peak. The significant improvement in affordability since 2007 has been driven predominantly by historically low mortgage rates, despite the first base rate rise in a decade last November. With average house prices rising by 3% in the past year, mortgage affordability marginally improved in the last quarter of 2017, edging down from 29.6% in 2016.This is comfortably…

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